The Badass Protector

Iris

MY HEART was pounding.

My body ached everywhere. My head. Oh, my God! It felt like it split in half or cracked into tiny pieces, and my brain crashed and bled out. Warm liquid rolled down my eyebrow into my eye, blurring my sight. Then the car descended with a loud splash into the water.

I watched the car submerge deep, and I couldn’t move. I didn’t know how to swim. I watched bubbles blow out from my nose and rise above while my body slowly sank down.

Oh, my God! I’m gonna die. I’m drowning.

The gunfire erupted around me, echoing in my ears. I wanted to run, to escape, but I couldn’t move my legs-they weighed tons and were painful.

Swearing followed.

The gunfire stopped, but the horrendous noise still remained in the air.

I felt like floating-weightless.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

It was so peaceful around here. No plague. No corpse. No smell of decaying human body. It was free of terror. I looked at the distance-it was endless.

Everything seemed perfect. So unreal.

I could feel the water blurring my eyes, entering my nose and mouth. I gurgled and coughed. And coughed.

My body and bones were aching as if I’d been in a train wreck. My head throbbed like it cracked open. My chest. Why did it hurt so bad? Like someone was intentionally crushing my heart and squeezing my lungs. My breathing stopped.

“Damn it! Wake up!” A familiar voice seemed more worried than angry. I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or real, but I recognized that voice.

“Please, Iris, wake up!” I heard that voice again. This time it was hoarse, shaky, and seemed in pain.

Then something heavy and solid pressed against my aching forehead. A liquid dropped into my eyes, down my face, and warm breathing against my lips. Warm, soft lips pressed against my own. I wanted to move and kiss back, but I felt like I was paralyzed.

“Twig, please, open those damn blue eyes for me, or I swear to God! Come on, please?” he ordered over and over again. His voice was cracking. “Goddamnit! Please, don’t give up on me now.”

Another pressure hit my ribcage, and I wanted to whine in pain.

“Fuuuck!”

I cough. I coughed out, struggling to throw the water inside my mouth. My throat ached as if it was swollen.

“Jesus.” I felt the soft lips pressed against my forehead. “Iris. Thank God. I thought I had lost you. Damn it. You scare the fuck out of me. Can you sit?”

“World’s spinning.” I swallowed. “Everything aches.”

When I opened my eyes, the flickering light of the sun blinded my vision, then the face of the man who tried to revive me appeared right in front of my eyes. I was wrong to think that there was no humanity left in this world anymore. Here was the living proof in front of me.

Have I been dead?

“Colton?”

“Yeah. I’m here.” He was still devastatingly handsome despite the blood running down from his hairline. His eyes were red and tired, but he managed to smile at me. “You make me so fucking worried.” His thumb caressed my cheek.

“What happened? Gael. Where’s Gael?” I croaked in question.

“Right here.” I heard his voice.

I tried to sit down, but the smell of mud and a peaty smell of algae hanging thickly in the air made me want to throw up.

“You okay, Gael?”

“I’ll live. How about you?”

“I can’t remember what happened, and I feel pretty beaten up here.” I grimaced as I tried to stretch my legs.

“We’re in a car crash,” Colt answered, carrying me bridal style to Gael.

“A pick-up truck threw us off the bridge, then they followed by shooting us. I got out first since the window was broken. I managed to swim to lure them out toward me and was able to fire back and down three men. Colt dragged you out of the car, and I covered his ass as he was trying to revive you. Their aim was to Colt and me alone.” Gael had small cuts on his face and arms, probably from the broken glass, but I bet he looked better than me.

A good amount of guilt twisted inside my stomach while Gael explained what had happened earlier. I couldn’t say that anyone besides my brother had ever shown me so much care through their actions, and it was killing that I couldn’t even pay them back. It just hit me how much they wanted to protect me.

“I’m sorry. It was all my fault why you two are in danger.”

Gael tasked, “You are part of our group now, Iris. And our group is our family. We protect our family. We protect each other.”

I felt better knowing that Gael did not blame me for what happened and that they were not severely wounded in the car crash and the shooting. But how long could we run? How long would our luck last?

“We should go before reinforcement arrive. Let me carry you.” Colt took my soak backpack from the ground and aligned it with his.

“I think I can walk.” I patted my neck to find my necklace still with me. Thankfully, it didn’t fall into the lake.

“Are you sure?” he asked, wearing worry in his eyes.

I didn’t want him to worry about me. If I survived in the hands of those people, I tried my best to survive again for Colt and everyone’s sake.

“Yeah. Let me check your head first.”

“I’m okay, twig. It’s just a scratch. I had worse than this. Head wound is pretty bloody,” he joked.

He managed to make me smile despite the circumstances. And I wanted to hug him tight, thank him, and make him feel how grateful I was for saving my life today.

“You’re lucky you don’t have a broken bone.” Gael placed the guns back inside the duffel bag and slung them around his shoulder.

“Do they still work?”

“Yeah. Depending on how long it’s underwater.”

“Where’s my gun?” I asked Colt.

“Here,” Gael offered. “I used it, but you still have a few rounds left.”

“Thank you.” I looked at him and smiled.

“No need to thank me, Iris. This is why you have Colt and me.”

“Our map is gone. We no longer have a guide, but we can’t stroll beside the river. They can follow our trail easily. We need to get access to the road, and it’s the easiest way to get back to the camp once we find a car,” Colt said.

***

SO FAR, the forest seemed quiet. After an hour of hiking, we couldn’t find any kind of transportation. No house, cattle, horse, bikes, or anything my eyes could catch, and I felt my strength was wearing off.

“How long did I pass out?”

Colt glanced down at me. “I think you passed out before the crash.”

“I remember closing my eyes, then a loud crash followed. I felt like I was thrown up, then we sunk into the water,” I told him what I remembered and what seemed vague.

“I can’t believe you can’t swim.” He laughed softly.

“I almost drowned when I was eight, and I have been afraid of the sea or pool since then. I can sit on the beach but won’t dare go deep. Why do you think I didn’t wanna join Darick fishing?”

“So, you never tried skinny-dipping?” A broad smile of understanding broke out on his face. His eyes were bright as the clear sky.

My heartbeat spiked up more than it had in a long time. I’m already falling for him.

“Nah.”

We reached the road, and I felt beyond exhausted. Gael sat down, breathing heavily, and our clothes started to dry on our skin.

He peeled his bag open and grabbed a can of soda. “To my diabetes!”

Colt shook his head, amused. “And that’s how we’re going home!”